


A Jack and Shitty Ficlet

by Joanne_Lupin



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-14 17:43:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11213022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joanne_Lupin/pseuds/Joanne_Lupin
Summary: From tumblr.





	A Jack and Shitty Ficlet

After the initial shock of being on a team with _Jack Freakin’ Zimmermann_ wears off, Shitty decides not to treat Jack as anything other than a teammate. After all, he’d looked as nervous as the rest of them when he’d shown up for orientation. So Shitty pushes aside the fact that Jack is Bad Bob Zimmermann’s son, that he was nearly the number one draft pick, that he’d fallen off the face of the earth, and that rumors of his various possible addictions follow his every appearance. And he treats him the way he’d treat anyone else.

Jack, Shitty discovers quickly, is a machine. He’s always the first one on the ice and the last one to leave. He books himself private practice time at Faber whenever he can. He’s already proven to everyone on the team that he deserves to be in the first string, regardless of who he was before he came to Samwell.

No one thinks it’s an incredibly big deal when Jack has a bad practice. Everyone has off days, and it’s frankly a wonder he hasn’t had one already. But the more Jack messes up, the more frustrated he gets, which only makes him mess up even _more_. He’s a mess by the time practice is over.

For once, Jack is the first one off the ice. He doesn’t bother to remove any gear but his skates before he’s bolting out of the locker room.

Their teammates watch him go and shrug, turning back to their own conversations as they strip and hit the showers. _Well, that’s bullshit,_ Shitty thinks. He takes off his skates and follows Jack out of the locker room.

It takes him a while to find Jack. He’s outside, by the back exit, curled up on the ground a few feet away from the door, as if he’d collapsed while trying to leave. 

“Jack?”

Jack doesn’t respond. Shitty kneels beside him, getting a good look at his face for the first time.

His eyes are red, teary, and unfocused. His jaw is clenched so tightly Shitty can practically hear his teeth cracking. He looks like he’s hyperventilating. 

“Jack? Dude, are you okay?”

Jack’s head moves just a tiny bit. He’s shaking his head. _No._

“C’mere, man. It’s okay. You’ll be fine.” Shitty hauls Jack into a sitting position, leaning heavily against his shoulder. He rubs Jack’s back. “Is this okay?”

Shitty feels his head move. _Yes._

“Okay, good. I’ve got you, man. It sucks, you know? When you have an off day? But they just happen sometimes, man. It’s not your fault. No one thinks you’re a bad player just because you had one shitty day. I mean, fuck, Jack, if anyone deserves to have a bad day, it’s you. You work your ass off, man. We were starting to think you’re actually a robot.”

Shitty laughs, and he feels a gust of breath against his neck. Jack’s breathing had slowed a little, but he’s still sort of shaking.

“You feelin’ better?” Shitty asks.

“Yeah… Thanks…” Jack croaks.

“Any time, man. I’m your teammate. I got your back.” Shitty squeezes him a little closer, just for a second. “You wanna get up?”

“No.”

“That’s okay, bro. I got nowhere else to be.” That’s a lie. Shitty has Biology in fifteen minutes. But this is more important.

“Thanks.”

“You want me to talk some more?”

“Yeah.”

Shitty doesn’t want to talk anymore about hockey. Instead, he tells Jack a bunch of stories about his dogs back home, and about the pranks he pulled in high school, and about the parties he’d had with his friends. They sit there long after Jack is able to pull himself upright and watch Shitty’s face while he listens. 

Shitty puts aside what he knows about Jack– about his parentage, his pre-Samwell career, his behavior in practice. He ignores the rumors and shuts people down when they whisper behind Jack’s back. 

He treats Jack the way he treats the rest of his friends.

**Author's Note:**

> My Check, Please! sideblog is fightmekentparson. Find me there.


End file.
